Just got the book, not overtly impressed by it. Way too many little stories & name throwing. However only quarter way through so hopefully things pick up

Anyway, read the part where Little Al is in for his first stretch & he recognises Amuso from a heist they done together few yrs back. Says nobody knew Vic at the time & he was being housed on the 5th floor along with the Mexicans & blacks "u can tell he was having a tough time, so next day I call him over and introduced him to all the italian guys".

It's feasible. Vic's a little guy himself, and if he was still unknown at the time it could be true. You walk into prison, you blow out a sigh of relief when you see the first person you know. Believe that.

I believed most things in the book... Didn't really seem like there was a lot of bullshitting or embellishing. He doesn't really have that impressing of a story - it's interesting, but not super impressive. And all the "little stories" is what I liked about it.

In fact, the only major embellishment was the title! He was not really a mob boss. More like a substitute teacher who is a fill in and who doesn't know what's going on.

Those little stories, about the old New York neighborhoods, were the best parts of the book.

No offense intended, but you couldn't possibly understand. Not living in England.

Oh I see what u guys mean. Seeing you lot are from that era, he's reliving your "good old days" so to speak

Some of the stories were interesting but a lot of it was irrelevant and I would prefer him to concentrate more on a few main individuals and really go into detail. Maybe he does later on....

One of the stories was told to him by another inmate. Who claims he knocked out a young chin Gigante for trying to shake him down

Great point PB regarding the old NYC hoods.
I thought the book was pretty good and for the most part truthful. Of course D'Arco forgot to include the part where he skimmed money from vic and casso while they took a powder.lol
The way he tells the story, you can almost feel his paranoia at the end.
I really think vic and casso felt taken advantage of by D'Arco while they were on the run. I dont think them wanting to kill D'Arco had anything to do about not doing a hit. It was about money.
PB can correct me if im off base here.

No, Belmont. That's about right. One more tidbit I'll throw in is his constant mentioning of Jimmy Ida. Jimmy and Joey Ida wouldn't look at D'Arco BEFORE the rat rumors started to spread. Yet D'Arco would have you believe they were pals.

He "revealed" that Little Jimmy ate lunch at La Mela every day. Big fucking deal. Anyone who knew the guy could tell you that he loved that place. And he PAID. Not like some of the scumbags who expect everything on the arm. And incidentally, D'Arco was one of those scumbags. Always bullying waiters and bartenders in the unconnected restaurants down there and walking out on checks.

Not to mention bringing a junkie son into the life. The guy is human garbage. But fuck Casso and Amuso, too .

PB,
Where've you been? Sent you an email about a week ago.

Hope you're well.

Busy with my Pop, Sonny. I'll look for it tomorrow and email you even if I can't find it. Because I always try to return your emails asap. But this one must have slipped by me. I bought a new phone and may have deleted it without seeing it. Fucking technology. But I'll talk to you tomorrow .

Who in their right mind would want to rob gas & vic, Al must be crazy if he thought he'd get away with it.

Well, Al's a scumbag. I can attest to that. I just posted a little about his rep as a beat artist downtown. But he's living free in Florida, pretty much out in the open. A few of his friends have even visited him there because he didn't hurt them and they hold no grudge.

Yet those two other fellas have been locked up in cages for over twenty years. Only way out is in a body bag. Never coming home. So really, who's crazy?

do you think Gas would have ratied if he wasn't shelved? And It makesvic look stupid to shelf Gas way too late.

Well, as of late, Capeci and his followers believe that Vic was never shelved. I do not. I firmly believe that Stevie's the boss, and has been the de facto boss for years (prior to his going to prison, then after the panel days through today). But that's for another thread. All that debate does is set off arguments between guys who read and guys who've seen. And I don't want to do that. But to finally answer your question, no, I do not believe that Vic would have ever ratted.


They were both on the run and done for when they were caught. D'Arco and Chiodo had the goods to put them both away for life. It wouldn't have made a difference. And if they somehow avoided prison, the Westside was firmly in the Bronx/Harlem Lucchese camp, with the full backing of The Chin himself. They would have been shot down like the dogs that they are. But personally, I think thirty or so years in a cage is a worse fate than death.

And to clarify, I don't include the term "dog" for Amuso because he obviously stood up. I call him a dog because he was in with Casso on the murder of Mikey Salerno (and LIED about him being a rat), and the planned murder of Stevie. So it's a little bit personal for me. That's all I'm saying.

In the book al says him and steve crea were planning on going to war I wonder how much truth there is to that story I don't know if steves guys would be enough remember joey gimpa betrayed mike after all those years together for al and casso

More than enough. They had the backing of every Westside crew, including 116th, with Chin's blessing to bring the power back to the East Harlem/Bronx/Westchester area, where the power always was, and belonged. Although, by that time, both the Westside and Lucchese crews had moved most operations from Harlem to the Bronx. If Vic and Gas somehow had their charges dismissed they wouldn't have seen 1995, if that. Gotti was gone for life, the Gambinos were a mess at the time, and Chin had the final say. And when Vince wanted you gone, you were fucking gone.


That's bullshit. IF he did it, he was following orders from the boss. Those are the fucking rules. If you want to read up on the life and know the ins and outs then you have to understand that. It's your best friend half the fucking time. If it comes from the boss, you're following the rules. And that's IF he did it.

That scumbag Little Al also claimed that Joey earned from it because he owed Mikey some shy money at the time, which is also bullshit. Joey had every fucking body shop on Boston Road sewn up lock, stock, and barrel back then. He needed a lousy 20 grand from a guy who brought him up? Please. And for the record, Joey and Stevie go back forty years. They're like fucking brothers.

Besides, Mr. Giampa was acquitted of that murder. ACQUITTED. Not a HUNG JURY. He was ACQUITTED. So who says he killed Mikey besides that little rat fuck?

Nuff said.

Regardless how one views Al's account of things w/ Amuso & Casso on the lam (a subject gone over repeatedly here) this book is one of THEE great Brooklyn biographies (Williamsburg, Fort Greene, Navy Yard area, Fulton Ferry-- pre-"Dumbo"-- Canarsie areas +++), there's lots of material both you have not and largely could not read elsewhere though many lived & know similar.

Whether or not this social history content is recognized or appeals to crime readers is another question but I gotta credit Al's memory, perceptiveness and, presumably, co-author Tom Robbins for asking the right questions. (I think it's fair to guess Capeci's primary interest, expertise is on the mob side.)